She had the honor of concluding the speech of Emmanuel Macron, freshly re-elected president, after the speech delivered at the Champ-de-Mars. Egyptian mezzo-soprano Farrah El-Dibany sang the Marseillaise, Sunday April 24, at the end of the speech of the tenant of the Elysée. The latter had arrived on this emblematic Parisian place, where the Eiffel Tower sits enthroned, against a backdrop ofOde to Joy of Beethoven’s 9th symphony, the European anthem.
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Born in Alexandria, Farrah El Dibany is the first Egyptian and Arab opera singer to have joined the Paris Opera Academy (in 2016), explained Radio France three years ago. “When you sing opera, you have to attack the note and not come from below. For oriental music and even pop music on the other hand, we often start below and we do a portamento [glissement d’une hauteur de note à une autre] reverse”she explained then. “It was not easy to change that because it comes naturally to me. When I sing with a lot of emotion it comes back from time to time, but slightly.”
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In June 2019, at the Hall de la Chanson in Paris, she also played the singer Dalida, her compatriot, during a recital of French song. In the same year, she also won the “Prix lyrique de l’AROP” for the best opera singer. The artist performed an excerpt from Carmen of Georges Bizet during the award ceremony, a character she often interpreted on stage, to the point, she says in a blog in Le Monde, of being “ecstatic” when she sings this role. Last March, Farrah El-Dibany was also decorated with the Medal of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ambassador to Egypt, Marc Baréty.
Farrah El Dibany has just received the medal of the Order of Arts and Letters. The opportunity to rediscover the journey of the first Arab lyrical singer to have joined the academy of@operadeparis. pic.twitter.com/GGo4IgL9sb
– France Music (@francemusique) April 6, 2022